Japan Matsuri Festival at Spitalfields, London
Celebrating 150 Years of Japan-UK Friendship
Oct 27, 2009
There have been several Japan festivals in London and the UK before. Two major one-off events on a national scale were the Japan Festival in Britain in 1991 and the UK-Japan 2001 Festival; the latter spawned a northern spin-off, the Glasgow Matsuri, held annually since then. The Anglo-Japanese Summer Festival, held annually from 1985 to 1995 in Battersea Park, may be seen as an ancestor to Japan Matsuri 2009; indeed, some of the same artists appeared, and some of the same people and institutions were involved as organizers and sponsors.
Spitalfields Market Hosted the Japan Festival
Spitalfields Market in London’s East End has offered local traders a venue for their products since 1666. In 1991, the food market moved east, leading to a distinction between the Old Spitalfields Market near Liverpool Street Station and the New Spitalfields Market in Leyton dealing in wholesale fruit, vegetables and flowers. The old site was then renovated to create Bishop Square and Crispin Place beside the old Spitalfields Market stalls — still busy six days a week except Saturdays.
Since 2006, the refurbished areas, populated by trendy shops and restaurants, have provided venues for public events. One such is the Japan Matsuri (matsuri = festival), a planned annual event inaugurated on Saturday, September 19th, 2009.
Japan Matsuri 2009: Bon Dance, Martial Arts, Frank Chickens, Taiko
By every measure of success, the first Japan Matsuri was outstanding. Created as part of the larger Japan-UK 150 celebrations, it drew over 35,000 people to Spitalfields. Food stalls never exhausted their supplies, all events ran on time, Crispin Place was jam-packed for the Main Stage offerings, and 110 vendors offered incredibly varied wares from baby clothes to saké, wasabi peas to purses made of obi cloth. Artists even presented their manga for sale.
However, it was the stage offerings, MC’d by the smooth-talking actress-singer Naomi Suzuki, that stole the show. In common with previous festivals, the Japan Matsuri offered the ultimate mix of tradition and modernity as found in Japan today: demonstrations of classic art forms such as calligraphy, flower-arranging and Shinnai musical story-telling rubbed shoulders with the outrageous costumed song-skits of the Frank Chickens, the aerobic Para Para dance, and the jazz indie band Hanjiro.
Cultural interchange was the order of the day. The Green Chorus Japanese women’s choir sang Japanese, English and world classical choral music and folk songs, while Brazilian-born Rodrigo Montoya played Tsugaru-jamisen. Several of the performers were non-Japanese in the London Okinawa Sanshin Group, which performed folk songs and Eisa drum-dance, in Joji Hirota’s taiko groups (Thames Taiko and Hiten-ryu Taiko), and in the martial arts offerings. The audience was treated to Japanese cooking lessons, and the prize of the day was a free return trip on ANA to Japan for winning the song contest. Start practicing for next year!
The festival offered a full range of interactive crafts and activities for kids and adults alike: a manga wall, a wishing tree, question & answer map, storyboards and plays, trying on kimono and samurai armour, and folding origami. The smiles on the participants faces told all. A bon-odori dance and o-mikoshi portable shrine procession towards the end of the day absorbed many enthused participants.
150 Years of Friendship: 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce, celebrated in 2008-9
The Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce, signed between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the United Kingdom, was one of several unequal treaties imposed on East Asian countries in the mid- to late 1800s. This treaty was later shed by the Meiji Government, who signed their first equal treaty in 1888, with Mexico. Thus it seems strange that the 1858 non-equal treaty forms a basis for celebration in the 21st century, but the excuse is evident in the title: amity and commerce.
Japan and the UK are still interested in friendship and trade. Therefore, that early step in normalizing relations between the two countries is indeed a step to be celebrated. The Japan-UK 150 Fund, provided by the Nippon Club and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Industry in the UK, is supporting many activities between September 2008 and December 2009 but only to the tune of £2000 per applicant. This sum doesn’t go far in organizing a festival.
Thus a long list of sponsors in addition to the Japanese Embassy and the Japan-UK 150 Fund assisted the Japan Society and the Japanese Residents’ Society in pulling this one together. Since there will be no Japan-UK 150 Fund next year, that seed money must be made up by other sources. One hopes this will not be a barrier to providing another great event.
Both a website and a Facebook site have been established for “Japan Matsuri” to keep interest going throughout the year. Comments already received on the website were heavily instructive in what people wanted to see and hear. Sign on and help design next year’s offerings!
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